Comegys, De Paul Hold Off La Salle

February 01, 1987|By Bob Logan, Chicago Tribune.

PHILADELPHIA — De Paul got a scare, but Dallas Comegys made a triumphant return to his Philadelphia roots Saturday night. A Palestra crowd of 8,117 came to boo him, but departed with new respect for the 6-foot-9-inch senior.

Comegys blended desire with his game-high 23 points, enabling sluggish De Paul (18-1) to come from behind for a 58-54 victory over La Salle. Kevin Edwards` breakaway basket with 1:35 to play, followed by two free throws, sealed the verdict.

For most of the evening, hungry, scrambling La Salle (11-9) beat the Blue Demons at their own game, dogged defense, and almost pulled off an upset. The normally unflappable Demons were rattled by all-court pressure that controlled the tempo and denied them their usual quota of breakaway baskets. With forward Kevin Golden benched early by an accidental poke in the eye, De Paul also lost the battle of the boards, awakening just in time to prevent its second defeat in a week.

The Demons fell behind 46-37 midway in the second half, then ripped off 10 straight points to take the lead. A dazzling baseline hook by Comegys put De Paul on top 47-46 with 6:49 to go, and the lead seesawed through the closing minutes. Lionel Simmons and Larry Koretz topped La Salle with 19 points each.

Comegys` arrival in his hometown Friday night went unnoticed because the Demons were delayed by foggy, drizzling conditions. They did not reach their hotel until almost midnight. By then, Philadelphia writers were busy marveling at the 49-point heroics of the Bulls` Michael Jordan.

That enabled Comegys to escape reminders about his first visit to the Palestra since he played here for Roman Catholic High School. That was in 1984, as a jittery freshman, when he flopped against St. Joseph`s, fouling out and scoring only one basket.

Taunted all night by Palestra fans, Comegys left the arena in tears after a 58-45 De Paul loss. When Saturday`s return to the scene of that humiliation drew near, Comegys had no trouble recalling the details. ``Yes, I remember that game,`` the Demons` captain said. ``I`m excited about going back to play in front of my family and friends, but I want to show the rest of them I can play a little basketball, too.``

Comegys tried to get off to a fast start Saturday, though neither he nor the rest of the Demons succeeded.

Rod Strickland fed Comegys an alley-oop pass in the opening minute, but the leaping De Paul center was undercut and had to grab the rim to keep from taking a hard fall. At first, a technical foul was called on Comegys for grasping the rim, but the officials conferred and wiped that out, awarding him two free throws for a foul by La Salle`s Craig Conlin.

But Comegys missed both shots, so the Explorers took a 2-0 lead. After Comegys knotted it with a lane jumper, both teams missed repeated

opportunities. There was no scoring until Koretz hit one of two foul tosses with 16:55 left in the first half, giving La Salle a 3-2 edge. The Explorers widened it to 6-2 on a three-point basket by Koretz. They could have made it bigger in the initial 4 1/2 minutes but failed to connect on six of eight field-goal tries.

The Demons took time to adjust to La Salle`s zone defense, which cloogged the middle to triple-team Comegys whenever the ball went inside. Eventually, Strickland`s layup capped a fast break 10:10 before halftime to tie it at 15, but he missed the free throw after Rich Tarr fouled him.

Stanley Brundy gave the visitors their first lead on a bank shot from the lane, but La Salle immediately regained the upper hand 18-17 when Koretz hit an off-balance three-pointer.

The Explorers opened the lead to five points, repulsing repeated counterattacks. Tim Legler`s three-point shot from the top of the lane gave them a 29-23 bulge only 2:30 before the intermission.

But the Demons bounced back when Terence Greene broke a scoring slump, driving the baseline for a layup. La Salle held for the last shot, and Legler responded with a three-point bull`s-eye and a 34-28 lead at the half.